They are intelligent, I believe, and I, as probably most admirers of exotic creatures, have always been fascinated by these creatures. I've seen them on night dives, but in warm waters they are quite small. The large, cold water giant Octopus is a very curious creature, and I've seen shows where they nearly envelop a diver, touching, grasping, feeling, etc., all in non-aggressive behavior.

So unusual that they can be frightening, as evidenced by "It Came From Beneath the Sea"; "Tentacles", etc. they are endlessly fascinating.

The small one which inhabits Austrailian waters, is luminescent, with blue spots, and is pretty small, is deadly, with extremely toxic poison. Australia has so many deadly creatures, it's no wonder England sent its ne'er-do-wells and barbarians there. From snakes to spiders to salt-water crocodiles to cone shells to jellyfish, etc. Australia is one deadly, dangerous place for those of us who like exciting activities, and even those who don't.

Giant squid can be large and dangerous. I read a book recently called "Meg", about the Megaladon, or giant prehistoric shark, perhaps the greatest predator ever, and it was pretty good, if anyone likes giant "Jaws" books.

If we started with a clean slate, without primates; I could see tentacled creatures evolving as the dominant life form.

Harry Harrison wrote a sci-fi, "East of Eden" (or West of Eden), about an Earth in which the dinosaurs did not become extinct,, evolving to become the dominat life form but man evolved in colder areas, and of course eventually they meet. It was interesting. The sequel wasn't as good, and I never finished it. Another sci-fi writer wrote a book about a water world, Cachelot or something, in which the Cetaceans became the dominant life form.

Octopi could certainly swing through those trees, with all those limbs, and if they did become dominant, I can only imagine how many books the ERB of Octopi might have written with four pens or typewriters going at once, so this is not entirely a non-ERB post.

Tarak, who has played with octopi in watery blackness